Road to Recovery
by Lilacc
Summary: They survived Harper's Island. One nightmare ended, but now a new one begins. Follow the ups and downs of their lives as they try to put themselves back together. The question now is: Will they succeed or will they fail?
1. Healing of the Body

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you might recognize from the tv show _Harper's Island_. I do own Jamie Mance and every other character I might need to come up with.

Hello to all! For all the new readers, I have an announcement, this story is the sequel to my first one, **Harper's Island: Little Sister Intervention**. So I highly advise you to read that one first, to get a better grip on this one. But feel free to explore :)

To those faithful readers that have read my first one, and are reading this one now ( I hope:) )... Welcome to the sequel! I hope you like this one as much as you liked the first one or even more :) This story will be told in 3rd person POV and will include all the survivors 'voices', so this could be a little bit more chaotic at times. This will my first time on a lot of those 'voices', but I will give my very best in get them right. As always I would love to hear your opinions and suggestions.

This chapter is a bit short, but real life decided to kick me in the behind this past week so I'm a little behind in my schedule. Again, welcome and happy reading...**

* * *

****Chapter the First – **_**Healing of the Body**_

Overwhelmed. That's how Jamie Mance was feeling right about now. There was the fear, heavy and crippling; the anger, still there and simmering beneath the surface; the pain, now making itself excruciatingly known, and so many others she couldn't even keep track of, let alone name.

The ride from the wretched island she once called home was bad. Arriving at the docks, to see it crawling with the vultures from the press, that were eagerly covering the second rampage, only because this one that had wiped out almost every member of the influent Wellington family was terrible. But the ride to the hospital would definitely take the price as awful.

Jamie's eyes, which were taking in every monitor now hooked on Christopher Sullivan, her beloved Sully, were alive with worry. The doctor in her was waging a war against the woman in love, because no matter how rational about all this she tried to be, the fact that Sully had yet to regain consciousness was freaking her out. She needed to see him open his eyes and talk with her. Jamie craved that more than oxygen, right now.

Finally the ambulance came to a halt, and the doors were immediately opened by the doctors of the hospital where the survivors of Harper's Island, as she had heard the paramedic call them, had been taken to. Without even thinking, Jamie started giving the information, even from the inside of the ambulance. "He has a stab wound on his lower abdomen to the right side of approximately 6 inches, maybe less. I don't think he has internal bleeding, but I couldn't confirm. He lost a lot of blood and I had to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding which made him pass out. That was two days ago. This morning he was awake but he collapsed not long after the coast guard got to him. His BP lowered considerably since we docked."

The noise from the second ambulance diverted Jamie's attention. Abby was the first to walk out, helped by the paramedic, while Jimmy, like Sully, traveled in the gurney. Again, Jamie felt compelled to inform the doctors on the condition of the pair, since she had been the first doctor to care for them. Both of them turned to her at the sound of her voice, their own eyes worried and pained. When Jamie finally finished she looked up to see astonishment of the five doctors and two paramedics. Shrugging her shoulders she said as means of explanation, "I'm a doctor too."

It was only when she stepped into the lighted ambulance bay, with the very much needed help of the paramedic, that her own injuries were seen by the assembled doctors. The one examining the blond boy, a smiling red head, took one good look at her and said, "O'Keefe take Doctor…" he trailed off waiting for her name.

"Mance. Jamie Mance."

"… Mance and start treating her injuries, please."

The doctor led her into the emergency room and she could feel the panic spreading all over her at being separated from the golden haired boy. She couldn't leave him! The doctor whispered, probably seeing the look on her face, "Don't worry, he's in good hands. Doctor Hart is a great surgeon."

Jamie simply nodded, not all that convinced, that feeling in the pit of her stomach only increasing as she heard the voice of Doctor Hart shout orders left and right. She sunk on a gurney, almost absentmindedly. That went on until her doctor tried to remove her jacket for a full examination. Jamie refused, knowing what he would find underneath and what that would probably entail. And Jamie would not leave the conscious world until she knew what had happened with Sully, until she knew what happened to Shane and Danny and Cal, until she was sure her brother was really fine.

"Doctor Mance, you need to take the jacket off and let me examine you," he said, kindly. The gurney with Jimmy passed them by then, Abby and another doctor trailing it. She noticed that her friend too had panic written all over her face. Jamie would've followed her, if walking hadn't suddenly become such a daunting task, what with the pain and double vision.

Doctor O'Keefe tried again, "Look, I know you're worried and you went through a rough patch, but I really need to examine you," and this time she noticed a small not of exasperation on his tone, as he assembled the basic things to clean the visible wounds.

Jamie bristled at his words and she could feel the anger bottled up inside of her start to boil. "With all due respect, Doctor O'Keefe, you have **no idea **what I've been through. Rough patch is a freaking understatement," Jamie growled with a dark look on her face.

The doctor looked stunned for a moment, but silently nodded. Jamie was now feeling breathless and woozy, as if she had just run a marathon. She knew what was happening. Now that she was safe, the adrenaline was leaving her system. The pain would get steadily worse and she would eventually pass out from it, Jamie was sure of it. Again the panic spread like fire through her veins and she felt lightheaded.

"Doctor Mance, are you okay?" O'Keefe asked alarmed.

She nodded. "Yes, just a little… Never mind, could you… please… tell me what happened to the other survivors?" Jamie cringed at the word, hating the label the press had already stamped them with. "Shane Pierce and Danny Brooks… Oh, and Cal Vandeusen as well," she said, getting breathless again.

Doctor O'Keefe nodded and went to the nurse's station, a couple of feet away from her gurney, leaving a very anxious Jamie waiting.

* * *

Danny turned around in bed, careful of his IV. He sighed, he really hated hospitals. Besides, that thing should've been off by now, shouldn't it? At least that was what Doctor Lang had told him when she stopped by yesterday. He must have been mistaken then, truth be told, he had been still pretty much under the effect of the anesthesia, so he wasn't sure what he had heard. Danny sighed again, wishing the memory of that excruciating FBI interview from the day before was just as hazy.

He looked at the chair that was still next to his bed. The place to be occupied by a family member or a loved one had firstly been occupied by an African-American agent whose name he had already forgotten. His words, however, those would haunt Danny, for a very long time.

Dead. Malcolm, Booth, Henry, Trish, Abby, his friends, were all dead. And if that alone wasn't such a tragedy, Sully and Jamie were both missing. He felt his heart constrict on his chest and the familiar sting of tears on his eyes.

Danny thanked all his lucky stars that he had a great family, which was already on their way to meet him. He was thankful for all his other friends, from back home, that called or send their regards through his family. But the jagged hole Danny now held deep within his chest would never go away completely, of that he was certain.

For Danny, the idea that he would never help Sully prank someone, or that he would never hear Malcolm's lame jokes, or see Booth's poor attempts at wooing a girl, or that he would never share a drink over a football game with Henry or that he would never hear Trish's tinkling laugh, was still a hard one to grasp.

But out of all of his losses, one burned hotter than the rest on his heart. He never admitted to anyone but himself and he certainly never acted on his ever growing feelings… But God, he would miss Jamie.

You see, Danny was the typical good guy; he was always willing to help a friend in need or lend an ear when there was nothing else left to do. He was fiercely protective of his friends to the point where he would sometimes put their well being above his own. And then he met Jamie Mance for the first time and he felt immediately drawn to her. But he saw the way Sully looked at her, the way she looked back at his friend and so, like the good guy he was, Danny stepped back.

But over the years Danny and Jamie had developed a close friendship, something he cherished, as he thought to be the only thing he would ever get out of her. And at the time he had been contented with that. After all, he knew the pair's story very well. Danny knew how they could scream and shout at each other, but at the end of the day, Sully and Jamie always seem to gravitate towards each other.

Except the torch never really died down and now he was left feeling empty and frustrated and whishing for one last chance to tell her about his feelings.

Danny's wishful thinking was interrupted by a commotion near the door. He groaned and shut his eyes. He hoped this wouldn't be a repeat of last night, when a stupid paparazzo had managed to sneak up to the surgical floor, in the clichéd doctor's disguise. The upside had been the very big and very humiliating dressing-down he received from one of the doctors. It had been the only highlights of Danny's stay at the hospital so far.

Someone entered his room. The young African-American opened his eyes to a nurse, he sighed, thinking she was there just to make the usual round, but instead she was sporting a big smile on her face. She got closer to him mindful of the other, still unconscious, person in the room, and whispered, "I thought you should know, Mr. Brooks, that the coast guard rescued four more survivors from Harper's Island."

His heart monitor beeped like crazy, showing the world just how much the news affected him. The nurse smiled a little more open and promised she would go and find out more and return to inform him immediately.

As she left, hope flared on his chest. Maybe Danny was about to get lucky, maybe after the nightmare he had been through, he was being rewarded. Whatever it was, he just needed to know who had returned to him and who will he be mourning for.

* * *

In a heavy secured mansion, a woman sat holding her daughter in front of an old television. Although they had a very expensive and state of the art TV set in the living room, they preferred the coziness of one of the bedrooms.

It had been Shea's room when she still lived with her parents. It was by no means small, but had the comfort of holding everything she had once held dear. In here the oldest member of the Wellington family, at the age of 35 years old, could pretend nothing changed. In here she could just pretend her dad and Katherine were on a business trip; that her husband was working and that perhaps her sister was out with her friends or Henry. One look to the television, though, shattered that illusion with yet another special news bulletin about Harper's Island. Couldn't they give it a rest already?

Shea Allen used to be a happy woman. She never planned every step of her life, but she always knew the general direction she wanted to go. First being the good responsible daughter, then the supportive older sister, when the time came she would become a wife and not much later a mother. Now she was at a loss of what to do. She was confused and hurt and angry and, well, broken.

She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice Madison's attention shifting from the outside of the bedroom window to the TV until the girl sat up in bed and started urging her mom to turn up the volume. They caught the middle of piece of news that sparked the interest of Madison.

"… _and both the coast guard and the FBI have refused to share any names, but, a few minutes ago it was confirmed by an anonymous source of Seattle Harbor that four more survivors of the Harper's Island Rampage were found. As you all know what started as a joyful occasion for one of the wealthiest families…"_

Shea muted the sound again looking at her daughter that was currently looking for her shoes. Shea felt hope for the first time in days. Hurrying up, she joined Madison and both were out the door and in the car in record time.

* * *

With her heart racing and breathing coming in uneven gasps, Jamie was going crazy. A nurse had closed the curtain a few minutes ago to stop the ogling from the other patients and staff. The pain was coming faster and stronger and she knew she wouldn't be able to take it much longer. She was pacing because staying still meant the adrenaline she was currently running on would disappear that much faster, but still, she could feel it steadily decreasing.

Jamie tried to focus on the positive things. All of her friends had survived their surgeries. Shane's condition had been touch and go for a while and Jamie had blanched when Doctor O'Keefe told her Shane had crashed once, in the table. But know he was stable and the doctors expected him to make a full recovery. Now all she needed to hear was that Sully was okay. That was the only thing holding her back. Jamie stopped for a moment and cast her eyes upwards and prayed.

"Please, please God, don't take him away from me…"

* * *

The numbness was passing. Slowly, Abby was starting to feel again. Only she wasn't sure that was such good thing right now. So many things had happened in the past week, so many life altering things that it constantly left her out of breath. Her existence had become like a horror movie, with all that death and mayhem. At times it felt like everything she ever believed in was wrong, backwards, and someone had taken an enormous and sick pleasure in breaking it down for her. Abby shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to think about **him** of all people.

Because it hurt. It hurt so deep and at so many levels she honestly didn't know what to make of such a betrayal. He had been her best friend, her rock, her savior and then, ultimately, he had been her destroyer. But again, she fought to expel him from her mind.

So Abby chose to focus all of her attention on the gurney Jimmy was in at that moment. The fact he was there, still breathing, was the one upside in the mess her life had become.

Earlier the young woman had been completely petrified, when her doctor started leading her to a different examination room than the one the fisherman was in. But as Jimmy's gruff and sedated voice all but demanded not to be separated from her, Abby felt warmth spread all over her, completely obliterating the numbness for one glorious second.

Abby Mills was not a religious person by nature, but hearing him say that, after everything he had been through, eased in the slightest ways the guilt she felt eating away at her. Because all of this death, this pain, was indeed because of her, Abby had only been mistaken in the why.

She sighed as she kept on answering the questions the doctor in front of her throwing her way, doing her best to keep the dark thoughts away.

Meanwhile, a few feet away from Abby, Jimmy Mance was silently thanking whoever had discovered morphine. He had been in so much pain after that nasty fall he could barely think straight, hell, he actually discovered he was hurting in muscles he didn't even know he had. Holding to Abby and his younger sister's hand had been pretty much all he could do on the way over to the mainland.

But now that the medicine was kicking in, he was able to let himself feel, and right now he was worried. First for Abby, because he knew just how deep her connection with Henry had been. Then for Jamie, because he knew the bastard had done something to her, Jimmy just wished she would trust him enough to tell him. Then there was Shane, he's best friend since Jimmy had been old enough to remember. The young man didn't know what he would do if his friend hadn't make it. Sure sometimes, okay, most of the time, Shane was insufferable and annoying, but he had always had both Mance siblings' back and that meant something to Jimmy.

But since he wasn't planning on leaving Abby's side so soon (which it was something he had to admit it wasn't just for her sake), Jimmy stopped a nurse on the way out and asked her about Shane.

"Mr. Pierce is stable now. He crashed once in the table but the doctors were able to bring him back. He's still out though. He's in room 268 in case you wish to see him."

She left and Jimmy's attention was diverted to the orthopedic surgeon that had been studying his x-rays.

"Well Mr. Mance you are a very lucky man. You don't have a single broken bone. You do have a bad knee sprain that might need surgery, some sore ribs and a slight strain in your left wrist, but aside from that…" she trailed off.

Lucky was one way to look at it. Jimmy was lucky he was still alive, he was fortunate that his body wasn't as broken as he thought in the beginning; because he hadn't failed his duty as the big brother; because Abby, the woman he loved with all of his heart, was still alive; lucky because his best friend was going to make it. But at the same time Jimmy couldn't help but think back to those of his friends who didn't make it, Nikki's face being on the forefront of his mind; to the house he was sure he would never be able to live in again; to his boat that now lay in pieces; to the island he would never be able to think about again without remembering the terrible things that had happen, all that horror and pain.

Sure, he was lucky, but his life would never be the same and he couldn't help but think of how unfortunate that was.

* * *

The sound of the curtain being pulled back dragged Jamie from the pain induced daze she had been for the last hour. She could barely thing straight, she felt like her whole body was on fire, her vision kept going in and out of focus, but she forced every ounce of her strength to focus on the doctor, because the man standing in front of her was the person who had the power to make or destroy her, even if he didn't know it.

Doctor Hart was smiling, and she took that as a good sign. He was still dressed in his navy blue scrubs and it seemed he had come to her straight from Sully's surgery.

"Well Doctor Mance I need to congratulate you. Your quick thinking most probably saved that man's life. I did found a slight tearing of a muscle but the knife cut inches away from all major organs. He's going to be just fine."

Jamie smiled, the relief making everything more clear for one second, and then she collapsed, much like Sully had done hours ago.

* * *

So, what do you think?


	2. Hurtful Truths

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you might recognize from the tv show _Harper's Island_. I do own Jamie Mance and every other character I might need to come up with.

Hello everybody! I'd like to thank James, Rebecca and Shannon012495 for their reviews, they put a smile on my face :D

To James, yes, unfortunately Trish is dead, poor thing. To Rebecca, you totally made up for it, not that you have to, but it's always nice to hear from you. Thanks you so much and I'm glad you liked it :) It means a lot to me. To Shannon012495, I'm glad you liked it and hope you like this one too :)

So, now for our round two :D

* * *

**Chapter the Second – **_**Hurtful Truths**_

A black SUV stopped in front of the hospital's back entrance. A tall African-American man and a Latino woman stepped out. The black sunglasses, the impeccable suits and the very way they moved through the hospital's corridors, screamed authority.

Both agents thought their case was closed. With only one interview to go, they had already started to work on something else when the news had arrived: more survivors had been found. And that's when their open-and-shut case turned upside down, especially if you'd take in consideration the fact that two out of the four survivors found were suppose to be dead. Or so their techs had claimed. They were in for a lot of work if the dead started to pop out.

Now more than never it was imperative that no body was released to the families, not until this mess was cleared.

So the FBI agents were back at the hospital wanting to know what had they missed and ready to collect the new pieces of the intricate puzzle that was the Harper's Island second rampage, and to make sure the dead were really dead.

* * *

The news spread fast in the hospital.

In Danny's room tears of joy had been spilt, even if now worry weighed heavy on the boy's mind for one Sully and Jamie. A silent prayer of thanks and a vow were made, as the dreamland again claimed him.

Meanwhile, a few rooms down, a lone figure stared outside the window. This time the tears shed were of sorrow and pain. On her mind the most imposing thought was how unfair this whole thing was; how this wasn't how this week should've ended.

Because Chloe should be home, gossiping over the phone with her best friend Lucy. She should be waiting for the hot details of Trish's honeymoon. She should be planning a party with Beth. Instead she was in a hospital room getting yet another lesson on how unfair life truly was.

And that particular lesson was one she knew would never leave her. In a single week Chloe had lost all of her closest friends to a man she had been fascinated with. Thinking about that now made her sick. And so like every other time Wakefield managed to penetrate her thoughts, Chloe looked back at Cal, to get a small reassurance life was still worth living.

Chloe Carter was an only child. Although her parents had never been cold or uncaring, she knew having a baby was more of a publicity stunt than a deep wish to become parents. It was only when she met Lucy Daramour and Trish Wellington she started to feel less alone in the world. Later came Beth and the four had become inseparable, but now their happy merry group was no more, and Chloe felt so terribly lonely.

"Love?" Cal's raspy voice called to her. It warmed her heart and made her smile a little. "Any news?"

When Cal noticed the sad look on her face, he knew what she would say. So, instead of making her actually word the pain that was perfectly clear on her face, Cal just open his arms in a silent invitation. The blonde that long ago had stolen his heart so completely, all but flew there, and no sooner had she settled in the bed with him, he felt her hot tears on his neck. Softly rubbing her back, he waited for the sobs and hiccups to cease, whispering reassurances in her ears.

Cal wished that there was more he could do. He wanted nothing more than to erase the pain in her, but for now he settled with just holding her close. He knew how much she needed that.

The minutes passed them by and Chloe finally calmed down enough to tell him how Jamie, Sully, Abby and Jimmy had been rescued.

"I'm glad they're okay, I am. It's just… When that nurse told me there were four more survivors found, I hoped Trish…" She sniffed, feeling Cal squeeze her hand.

"I know, love, I know."

For a long time they stayed entwined like that, both lost in their own thoughts. Cal was simply contented they had left the island in one piece, completely grateful to whatever higher power that had bestowed upon him his other half so early in his life, promising he would do his best to make of Chloe the happiest woman on earth.

The thoughts running through Chloe's head were slightly different and even more fueled with the loss of her friends, of the people she regarded as family.

"I want a baby," she said out of the blue.

"What?" Cal asked, completely dumbfounded, turning to look at her face.

She raised her head and looked back at him. "Not now, obviously. But I want us to have a baby, Cal. A child of our own to love and cherish…"

Cal was still at a loss of words. Of course he wanted to have a baby with her, hell, he wanted a bloody soccer team, but he knew this was the grief talking.

"Whatever you want, my Chloe," he said soothingly nonetheless. They had time to talk about this later.

That earned him a smile, but as it was, Chloe wasn't finished yet. "I also want to get married."

He smiled, a lot more relieved with this request. After everything that happened Cal was afraid she would sworn off marriage forever. Not that it would've mattered if she had, she would still be his Chloe, but he was a little old-fashioned. "Of course, honey," he said, much more enthusiastically now.

"No," she said, disentangling herself from him. "I want to get married now, or as soon as possible. No big ceremony, just you, me and the reverend."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, returning to his embrace. Chloe wanted to be his in every possible way. Right now, he was her lifeline, and she wouldn't let him get away.

* * *

Jimmy was restless. She could recognize the signs: the bouncing leg, the constant adjusting on the bed, and the long looks towards the door. Abby knew the cause, and had to admit that she too was begging to get worried. Jamie was like a mother hen when someone she cared about was hurt. Even worried with Sully, she should have checked with them already.

"Let's go," she said, standing up and extending her hand for Jimmy to take.

The fisherman didn't hesitated in holding her hand, but remained seated, confusion on his face.

"We're gonna find Jamie. C'mon."

Smiling of happiness that came out of knowing how much the woman in front of him knew about him, he agreed and off they went. Jamie's current absence was getting him anxious. Jimmy knew his baby sister was hurt and he wanted to make sure she was seen by a doctor. After all, when they said that doctors make the worst patients they obviously had been thinking about Jamie.

They went as far as a nurse's station before Jimmy's surgeon-to-be stopped them.

"Mr. Mance, what do you think you're doing out of bed? Walking on that bad knee isn't going to help your recovery!"

"I'm sorry doctor, but I need to find my sister," he said, already moving past her. Her words, however, stopped him dead in his tracks.

"You can't see her right now."

"Why the hell not? What happened? Where is she?" Jimmy asked, getting more worked up with each passing second.

"She's being treated as we speak. She collapsed after Mr. Sullivan's doctor informed her on the success of his surgery," the way she hesitated made him all the more worried.

"Why did she collapse?" He prompted her, feeling Abby's hand comfortingly squeezing his.

Again, the young doctor, so imposing when admonishing him just a while ago, hesitated. "You better come with me."

The couple followed the doctor in the short tour to the room where Jamie was. What they saw from the window, made Jimmy sway on his feet, as he went livid. **This** was no pushing around.

His fists closed in pure homicidal rage. Too bad his target was already dead, because after seeing this, Jimmy was wishing he could bring Henry back from the dead, just so he could have the immense pleasure of sending the bastard's sorry ass back to hell… And hopefully repeat the action over and over, until the image of his sister lying on a table, covered in her own blood, would wash away from the back of his eyelids.

Abby was standing a couple of feet away from the window, the horror covering her pretty face. The pain that had been subdued in Jimmy's vicinity came back with a vengeance and not for the first time she asked herself what he had been thinking. How could he believe that shedding blood and torture could be use as a proof of love? Why… How could she not have seen what he had become? The guilt took a new breath and was gnawing so intensely at her she thought she would be sick.

"How is she?" Jimmy's cold hard voice echoed in her ears.

"Wait a minute, I'm gonna grab one of her doctors."

As the doctor slipped inside the room of her roommate and the closest thing Abby Mills ever had to a sister, she approached Jimmy slowly.

"Jimmy…" She tried, but he was still staring intensely at the window. "Jimmy, please…" Abby tried again, fear now taking a hold of her heart. She was certain he hated her now. After all if it wasn't for Henry's obsession with her, none of this would be happening. So it really was her fault that Jamie was now this hurt.

"Jimmy, I'm sorry… God, I'm so sorry!" She said, with tears heavy in her voice.

It was precisely that which attracted Jimmy's attention. He turned his troubled eyes to her. What he was seeing, only adding to his ever growing worry.

"What's wrong Abby?"

"This," she pointed to the window. "This is my fault. He did this because of me, Jimmy. I'm sorry."

He had been expecting the guilt, so he simply coaxed her into his arms. "This isn't your fault, Abby, you hear me? It's that bastard's and only his. You understand?" he said, passionately. He felt her nod but Jimmy wasn't fooled. This would be a long recovery and he had the distinct feeling he would be having this conversation with Abby again. But for now, Jimmy settled with holding her close to him, comforting her and at the same time seeking the comfort he needed, his eyes glued to the window.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jimmy's doctor came out accompanied by another doctor. The look on both their faces was grim and Jimmy's heart sank a little lower in his chest.

"Mr. Mance, I'm Dr. Hart, your sister's doctor." After the man shook hands, the doctor started explaining what Jamie's condition was. "She's stable and out of danger. She collapsed due to exhaustion and mild circulatory shock." The pressure on his chest diminished and the air flowed better, but the damn hesitancy was driving him crazy.

"Just spit it out already!" He shouted exasperated.

"It appears she was… tortured," Dr. Hart said. "We counted 27 cuts spread over her chest, back, abdomen and arms. Overall they're not deep, but were enough to cause the shock. She also has two broken ribs and a severe burn on her abdomen, in addition to bruises and a sprained ankle."

Jimmy was trembling as he heard the doctor list her injuries. He wanted to break something, better yet; he wanted to break Henry Dunn. Falling off a cliff and being stabbed was too simple a death and so far from what that bastard deserved. But instead of focusing his energy in cursing the bastard to the deepest pit of hell, Jimmy preferred to concentrate on his sister.

"Can I get in?"

Dr. Hart shook his head. "Not right now. We still have to run a few more tests and we need to finish dressing all of her wounds. You can see her when she gets to her own room. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back inside."

Jimmy nodded but his attention was already on his pale sister. The hopelessness didn't set to well with him, but for now all he could do was watch with a heavy heart, as the doctors worked on his baby sister.

* * *

Shea hated the press. If she hadn't hate them before, when murder wasn't at all associated with the Wellington name, she certainly hated them after she and her daughter got off the island. She remembered all the havoc they had wrecked when all she had been trying to do was getting her daughter observed. She could still remember hearing them shouting as she waited for news on the other survivors. The hospital director was forced to hire extra security, due to all the activity.

But in this very moment, Shea was truly loathing the idiots that were still hovering at the hospital doors. Plus she had to get in the big white building, she had to know, for good or bad, Shea needed to know if one of the survivors found this morning was her sister.

Strongly holding Madison's hand, escorted by two big burly bodyguards, Shea walked through the parking lot. As she expected they advanced on her. The buzzing in the air reminded Shea of an angry swarm of bees. But she did her best to ignore them, reaching the doors of the hospital, were several security guards stood, making sure none of the press walked through those doors without valid medical reasons.

Once inside her strong façade started to crumble.

"Mom? Mommy, are you okay?" Madison asked concern on her usually stoic face. She was a very bright child, but there was still a big part of what had happened she couldn't understand.

Shea pulled herself together once more, using whatever strength she had left and managed a smile and a nod. She raised her head and walked towards the nurse's station. But before she got to open her mouth, the sound of familiar voices caught her attention and she looked up towards a corridor, finding Abby and Jimmy standing there, talking.

Without wasting a second more she briskly walked towards the couple, feeling the dread fill her up. When they noticed her approach their faces turned grim. But there was something very distinct in their faces, a look she recognized, and that stopped her dead in her tracks, half way towards them. Shea had seen that look before, it was the same look she had seen on her father's face just before he said her mom had passed away, and the same look the FBI agent that interviewed her a few days back had.

The couple eventually moved closer to her. But she barely registered the movement, just like she barely noticed when Madison all but flew to the couple's side. In her chest she was experiencing what it felt like to have your last hope crushed. She was feeling the wound of her sister's death bleed all over again. Closing her eyes, she hugged herself and allowed the tears to flow once again, feeling so very desolate and alone.

"Shea, I'm so sorry… I… I…"

She opened her eyes and saw Abby.

"Who else was rescued? They said four people…" She trailed off. She didn't want anyone's condolences, she wasn't sure she could take it right now.

It was Jimmy, who wrapped a hand over Abby's waist that answered, "My sister and Sully."

She nodded her head, trying as best as she could not to feel jealous or bitter towards Jimmy, trying to remember he was a victim as much as she was. Madison returned to her side and she relished in her daughter's presence, which at the moment was the only thing stopping Shea from completely breaking down.

"What happened?" asked Shea in an attempt to muffle the pain that was now screaming bloody murder on her chest.

A looked passed between the couple and somehow, Shea didn't think it bode too well for her. Feeling more bad news coming she tried to steel herself for what was coming.

"Tell me. Tell me everything."

* * *

Abby could feel a headache coming. Although she was certain she would barely feel it if one took in consideration all the other aches she had, not only on her body, but on her very soul and spirit, she still knew it was there.

The conversation with Shea took so much out of her… Abby had told the older woman every single painful fact, feeling like she somehow owed it to Shea. But she hated every minute of it and would never forget the look on the Wellington woman's face. Those light eyes spoke volumes, they spoke of all the hurt and pain, but above all, they spoke about the accusation that never left Shea's lips.

She hugged Jimmy a little closer, taking solace in his proximity and wishing his warmth could seep into her body. She was glad he had agreed with her in waiting for any news on Jamie in their room.

Jimmy was getting worried. Abby hadn't stopped shaking ever since Shea left and she hadn't let go of him yet. Not that he was complaining, God knows he would hold her for the rest of his life if she wished for it. But he didn't like her reasons today.

A knock on the door raised both occupants' attention. Jimmy groaned when he spotted the suited visitors while Abby went rigid in his arms. Both knew what this meant and neither was really up for an interview with the FBI at the moment.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Mance and Miss Mills, I'm special agent – "

Before he could finish his introduction, Jimmy said, keeping Abby from raising from the bed and away from him, "Do we have to do this now? In the hospital?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm afraid we do, Mr. Mance. The sooner we can wrap this up, the sooner we can put all this behind us."

"Yeah, I bet," Jimmy muttered.

The agent, now annoyed with the interruption, continued, "We just have some quick questions for both of you. It shouldn't take too long."

Nodding, Abby finally hopped off the bed and went to sit on the chair, while Jimmy raised the head of the bed, to be sitting, taking immediately hold of Abby's hand.

Settling in the chair his partner had brought for them, the African-American agent started the questioning.

"The casualty count on the second rampage is over twenty people, all of which were brutally murdered. You were on that list too; can you explain how that happened?"

Jimmy looked at Abby, since he had no idea how to answer that given Henry never shared details of the plan with him.

"Henry did it, to stop someone from coming to look for us."

"But what about Mr. Sullivan and Miss Mance?"

It was Jimmy's turn to answer. "He didn't know were Sully was. Henry stabbed him and left him to death. My sister carried him, hid him and saved his life. Henry caught up with her when she was trying to get to the coast guard's helicopter."

The questioning continued, until the FBI was thoroughly satisfied they had every piece of information they needed to make sense of their case.

After what was much more than 'some quick questions' they got to the feds last inquiry. "Okay. There's only one more question and then I think we're done here."

Jimmy and Abby held their breaths, they had a pretty good idea what their last question was.

"Who killed Henry Dunn?"

Pain shot across Abby's face a second slower than it did through her heart. She wasn't in control of her emotions yet. There was too much confusion and so, even after everything that happened and everything he had done, pain was still the first emotion she felt.

She closed her eyes, feeling her body begin to shake again, feeling Jimmy's eyes on her and his hand squeezing hers.

"I did," she said in a small cracked voice. "He was… He was going to kill Jimmy. I couldn't… Jamie was there too. He would hurt them! I couldn't… I had no choice!" Abby finished hysterically.

Jimmy wasted no time in hauling her into the bed with him, holding her close as the tears fell down her face, letting her cry her sorrow, no matter how much he hated the bastard she was crying for.

"That's all, right?" Jimmy said.

"Yes of course, Mr. Mance. Rest assured that Miss Mills won't be charged with anything. It will be ruled as self defense, but you've got to understand, we had to ask, we needed to know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Thanks. Have a good day," the young man said, more focused on Abby than the departing FBI agents.

The silence that hung around the couple was only interrupted by Abby's softly cries. The worry returned with a fury into Jimmy's chest and he fought to control his rage against the damn FBI agents, against Shea, against the big bastard and everything else Jimmy could conjure on his tortured mind.

"Abby, honey?" He tried, but she never even acknowledged his try. "Abby, c'mon, look at me. Please?" He all but begged.

She raised her teary eyes to meet his. What he saw in those beautiful eyes was enough to take his breath away. Never, in all his life, he had seen such a tortured look on her eyes and he hated it with everything that he had.

"I killed him, Jimmy. I…I…killed him. I had to, he…he would kill you and Jamie and I couldn't let that happen. He took so much from me that I couldn't let him take anyone else. I had to… I had to…"

Feeling her break down on his arms was almost more than what he could handle and Jimmy fiercely wanted to help her, he just didn't know how. He was so into Abby that he missed the nurse entering the room. He almost jumped out of his skin when her hand made contact with his arm.

Breathing heavily, Jimmy looked at the nurse expectantly.

"Miss, would you like a sedative?"

Abby started shaking her head immediately, remembering Jamie's words on the ambulance bay, reporting to the doctors how he had drugged her. She was tired and wanted to rest, but she wanted to do that of her own volition. Besides a tiny part of her was still afraid of what she might wake up to, was still afraid this was just a dream and she would eventually wake up back at the island.

Jimmy was about to verbally refuse when he felt her still shaking body next to his. Maybe this was exactly what she needed, some good rest, without anyone prying the story from her.

"Abby maybe you should accept it," he softly murmured.

"No," she replied.

"You're tired. Talking with Shea then answering the FBI questions, it's a lot. Besides you still need to rest," the young man tried.

"I don't want to," she stubbornly insisted.

"C'mon Abbs, for me?" Jimmy was well aware he was playing dirty, but he couldn't have cared less, not if it accomplished his goals. Abby needed to rest.

She finally nodded and when Abby looked in the nurse's direction, the woman was already holding a needle. She gulped and grabbed Jimmy's hand, whispering, but never taking her eyes off the nurse, "Stay with me. Please?"

Kissing her hair softly, he whispered back, "Of course honey, now sleep."

And sleep she did. Abby was out like a light before the nurse even left the room.

"Hey, how long is she gonna stay out?" he asked at the already retreating nurse.

"A good solid hour, sir, then it's up to her," sensing the question in the young man's eyes, she said, "I couldn't give her anything stronger than that. The drug she was administered earlier hasn't completely cleared out of her blood stream and it could cause some complications."

He felt the anger flourish in his heart again. _I hope you're burning in hell for all this, Henry. I truly do_, he thought bitterly, hugging Abby a tad more strongly against his chest.

* * *

So... What d'ya think? Good? Bad? Give me something guys.


	3. Waking Up

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately I don't own anything you might recognize from the tv show _Harper's Island_. I do own Jamie and everyone else you don't recognize :)

Hi guys. First of all, I have to thank everyone that took time to review this story. Your reviews make me want to write that much more :D

To Rebecca, the title of this chapter is very obvious, but your favorite guys are waking up :) Hope you enjoy. To Courtney, you have absolutely nothing to apologize, but thanks anyway :) Yes, although my main ideas are about the pair Sully/Jamie I will include more about the other survivors, since they were all affected, one way or the other. About Chloe it just came out, the idea of the baby. I try the best I can to put myself in their shoes and use what the show gave us about their personalities to create the closest possibility of what their reaction may be. To LaPush'sSheWolf, their reunion is coming, just not in this chapter. But I hope you still like this :) To becca85, well I had to find a way to spice this thing a little bit :D I hope you enjoy reading this.

So now I leave you to the chapter. Happy reading everybody :)

**

* * *

****Chapter the Third – **_**Waking Up**_

Shane Pierce was no stranger to waking up in some place other than the one he fell asleep, or more often than not, passed out. In his lifetime he has woken up staring at Jimmy's old ceiling, he has woken up to the hard floorboards of Kelly's front porch, he has woken up face down on his old couch, he has even woken up in some jail cells. But as he opened his eyes, with the mother of all headaches already forming, he failed to recognize the whiteness of the room.

"What the f…" he started, confusion weighing heavily on his mind.

Bits and pieces of what had happened on the last couple of days started resurfacing. But Shane still didn't understand where he was. His last recollection was hearing the little girl scream bloody murder, then a blurry of movement, a pain in the head and darkness. He would imagine he was dead, but there was way too much pain. Or perhaps he had landed in hell, but then again, wasn't the devil's lair supposed to be a little bit redder?

Finally looking around, he realized he was at a hospital. Monitors and IV's and all that crap that a hospital usually has. He could already feel his usual bad mood returning. He was so not a fan of hospitals and doctors, and from his experience hot nurses were a freaking myth, so there was not a single upside in being in one. This was not gonna be a good day, he could already tell. Turning around he spotted another person on his room, currently sleeping. Not really caring he shouted until the person turned and glared at him.

"What?" The person responded with the same bad humor. It was one of those frat boys and Shane could feel the despise growing tenfold.

There were a lot of things he wanted to know, for example, what had happened to that bastard Wakefield? Or how did they get to a hospital? But right then one very important thing rose above all others. "Where are Jimmy and Shorty?" He asked, masking his fear of the answer with his usual anger.

"Jimmy's okay and Jamie will be…I hope," Danny added under his breath, barely awake. He looked to the empty chair near his bed and wondered what was taking his parents so long.

"What the hell do you mean 'I hope'?" Shane asked sharply, with his heart constricting at the tone of Danny's voice. He would never forgive himself if anything had happened to Jamie; she was like a little sister to him and so he should protect her. In fact, her and Jimmy were the only thing he had that even resembled a family.

With a deep sigh, which made Shane all the more worked up, Danny replied, "She got here just fine, but she wouldn't let the damn doctor look at her until she knew how we and Sully were. When the doctor told her Sully was just fine she collapsed. That's all the nurse told me, man."

"Damn it! I'm gonna kill her for being so damn stubborn," he said, already trying to jump off the bed.

Before he could, though, the door cracked open. Shane stilled his movements, in case it was a doctor or a nurse. But a true smile grazed his face for a second, before being replaced by the usual scowl, when he spotted who the visitor was.

"Jimmy, man, glad to see you. Where's Jamie?" Shane fired, straight to business. He needed to know. It was that part of him, the one he kept under wraps because he knew caring about others would only bring you pain. But he couldn't avoid her, no matter what he said or did, she never left. Which was more than Shane could say about his useless mother or dead beat dad.

"She's one floor down, still getting treated."

Gulping Shane asked, this time a lot more softly, "What the hell happened out there, man?"

Jimmy dropped to the chair in between both beds, seeing how Danny seemed much more alert now. After Abby was sedated he got to do some thinking. He wanted to help her, but there wasn't a great lot he could do right now. Then flashes of that afternoon shot across his mind and he suddenly knew what he could do to make it, at least, a little easier for her.

So slipping as quietly as he could, Jimmy got down to business. He marched right to Shane's room, only to find both room occupants sleeping. And while he considered just waking them up, the words of the nurse about his friend, flat lining on the table scared him more than he cared to admit, so Jimmy left and went in search of another survivors.

Finding the room hadn't been hard. Talking with the people inside, whom he barely knew except for those moments on the island, wasn't quite as easy. Seeing Chloe cry over his words cut his heart, but he figured it would've been easier for him than for Abby, so he went with it.

Now it was time to break it to the last of Henry's buddies the truth about his character. Damning the bastard's soul to hell for the millionth time that day Jimmy began.

* * *

Consciousness came slowly. First it was the sense of smell, the strong antiseptic only a hospital could quite pull off; then it was the dull ache all over her body; then there was the sounds around her, a little overwhelming at first, but eventually the voices drowned down until the only noise left was the heart monitor. But none of those things truly woke her. No, what pulled Jamie from the first real sleep she had for a week now was worry.

She couldn't stay sleeping. She had to wake up because she still had her brother and best friend to check up on. Jamie didn't care they were in a hospital, full of perfectly capable doctors, she still needed the visual confirmation that they were safe and sound. Then there was Sully. Out of danger, Dr. Hart had said, it was a relief, but it was pretty much the same as with her big brother, Jamie needed to see it, to believe it.

So she forced her eyes to open. The room she was in was darkened and she was all alone. Jamie prayed that meant Jimmy hadn't been there yet, that he hadn't seen how much she had downplayed what Henry had done to her.

Cautiously Jamie eyed the room. An IV drip had been inserted on her right arm, certainly containing the blessed pain medicine; the machine that controlled her heart rate was turned on and she watched, fascinated, how her heart beat was steadily rising, now that she was fully awake. Turning to the left she saw a tray with medical instruments, a bag with her dirtied and bloodied clothes and an empty bag of blood. She shuddered and tried to sit up, feeling a stab of pain on her chest at the sudden movement.

Panting she fell back down on the bed. Jamie tried taking deep breaths but that caused even more pain, so she tried to relax her muscles and calm her breathing with shorter breaths. She had an idea of what the problem might be, but she needed to check her chart to be sure.

After some minutes of struggle, her hands finally closed over the offending file. Jamie's suspicions were confirmed; she had not only one, but two broken ribs, along with a plethora of other injuries that made her wince. Damn, she really had had the crap beat out of her, hadn't she? Jimmy would freak out if he ever had laid eyes on this. So Jamie, again, prayed her brother had been nowhere near the room yet.

Since restlessness didn't sat too well with the young woman, she employed her efforts in getting out of bed and go find her brother or Sully, whoever she found first. The first part of her plan was easy. But walking out of the room? Not so much.

Sometime after, and later than she would've wanted, Jamie finally started the long walk down the corridor. With one hand firmly on the wall, and the other hugging her injured ribs, Jamie tried to look as inconspicuously as she could. Such thing wasn't easy and, despite her efforts, she hadn't even searched half the rooms when a known voice sounded behind her.

"Dr. Mance, what are you doing here?" The young resident screeched, appalled, as his ears were still ringing from Dr. Hart's reprehension over his carelessness with his patient.

Turning slowly around, and not able to completely conceal her grimace of pain, Jamie answered. "I need to find my brother or Sully."

"The only thing you need is to get back to your room," O'Keefe said already moving to her side, careful not to move her too suddenly, already coaxing her into following him.

Jamie couldn't very well fight him. She could feel the exhaustion coming back with a vengeance, just like the damn pain on her chest becoming more pronounced, making breathing a difficult business. Still, she stopped, forcing him to do the same, unless he wanted to literally drag her away.

"Listen, it'll just take a minute. I just need to see them," she insisted. Her body might've been weak in the moment, but her stubborn streak wasn't.

"You're weak, Dr. Mance, much too weak to be already up and about. Besides you know they are both out of danger…"

"I want to see them," she said through gritted teeth. She was feeling weak, but the worry in her chest was slowly turning into full fledged panic. The only way to appease her heart would be to see her brother, Sully, possibly Abby.

"You promise after that you get back to your room?" O'Keefe finally conceded.

"Yes," she said smiling and calmer now. "Is there any way I could change room before my brother comes to see me?" She mused as the support of the wall was replaced with the support of the young doctor.

Shaking his head in exasperation O'Keefe bit out an affirmative answer.

* * *

"That's… Wow, that's sick man," Shane said. There weren't many things in this world that could render him virtually speechless, but finding out the Dunn brother he hated was actually and angel, when compared to the other, who wasn't even a real Dunn, certainly did.

"Yeah, it is," Jimmy growled, with thoughts of Abby and Jamie flashing in his mind.

On the other bed, Danny's reaction was similar to Shane's. Only the incredulity had the bitter sting of betrayal for the young man. The story was so farfetched, but Danny didn't doubt it. The look on Jimmy's face, the pain on his voice and his injuries were all testimonies of the veracity of his tale.

How? A voice in his mind screamed. How could one of his best friends turn into such a monster without anyone seeing it? And why? Because of a promise made a long time ago by a kid?

He started to question everything, trying to find if he had somehow missed a sign, if there was ever any indication Henry Dunn was anything other than the nice guy Danny had first met. But the more he thought about the whole thing, the more he came to realize that most of his friendship with Henry had been a lie, since the killings in Harper's island took place a little over two years after they had started college.

Danny closed his hands in anger. He had lost friends, true ones; he had seen far more death than he ever wanted to; he had been played with by a freaking psychopath; preyed upon like a freaking animal, all because of Henry. _Bastard…_ he thought.

"Man, I'm off to see Jamie," Jimmy said, getting up. Seeing the look on his friend's face, he added quickly, "Don't worry, I tell you as soon as she wakes up."

After the door shut close, Shane turned his back on the door, to see if he could sleep a little of the headache off. And he had almost succeeded when the door opened again.

"Good afternoon Mr. Brooks."

Groaning, Danny replied, "Yeah right. What are you doing here agent? More questions?" He was not in the mood for another round with the feds. He knew the truth now, Danny now knew how his death had been carefully planned and almost perfectly executed, if not for Jamie and Sully. Shivering, he made a mental note to thank the pair once he had the opportunity.

"No, Mr. Brooks we're here to talk with Mr. Pierce if he's up to it," the African-American FBI agent said, fully stepping in the room, his partner closely behind.

Shane chose that moment to moan out loud. Not from the pain, but from the annoying affair that was being interview by the authorities. What was the point anyway? Both killers were dead and it wasn't like there was a great lot he had to tell them anyway.

On his part, Danny smirked, feeling a secret satisfaction on unleashing Shane's proved bad mood and asinine attitude on the FBI agents.

"Well aren't you lucky? He awoke just now."

A moan later and Shane reluctantly turned to the FBI agents. Settling for the show, Danny tried to expel the bad thoughts from his head.

* * *

Jamie tried to sit still in bed and sleep, she really did. But thoughts from that afternoon kept attacking her mercilessly. And it wasn't like she was in any hurry to return to a dream world that seemed hell bent on making her relieve every bit of the nightmare she had experienced in Harper's Island. _Once was enough, thank you very much_, she tought with a shudder.

In that specific moment it was worry that clouded her mind. Sully's condition, while not life threatening, still inspired care. O'Keefe had stopped her from reading directly off his chart, but informed her that Sully had collapsed due to circulatory shock, and if that wasn't bad by itself, the young man had also developed an infection and was now battling a fever that wasn't breaking. Which could account as to why he was still out cold.

She had been so much beside herself in worry that she only noticed she was back in her room when O'Keefe had told her to sit. Looking around, Jamie had panicked and came close to tears when asking for a new room. Unfortunately the strain of the day finally caught up with her and Jamie had slept the rest of the afternoon, missing her opportunity to see Jimmy and Abby.

So Jamie thought that a stroll around the mostly calm hospital corridor would help her. It had certainly done the trick earlier, so why not now? But, it seemed she forgot to factor in the precious help Dr. O'Keefe had provided. Because she hadn't even reached the end of the corridor and she was already panting and feeling the ache on her chest making it harder to breathe. Tears were coursing down her cheeks before she even realized it.

She hated this! This whole thing was so unfair. Jamie went to a wedding to God's sake. She had envisioned fun, banter, some drunkenness. But the truth couldn't have been further from that.

And that's, when she was precariously close to completely breakdown in the lone corridor, she found his room. And while Jamie found that scene to be too bleak, she still went over to Sully's side.

He was so still, so pale, but he was also alive and that's what she would be focusing now. She found that being around him had a calming effect on her. Jamie smirked, thinking that was probably due to the fact he wasn't awake right now.

And there, holding his hand and having his strong heartbeat on the monitor as company, Jamie fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Her slumber was swiftly interrupted, or so she would swear. But one look around told her time had actually passed. There were more nurses in and out of rooms and Jamie could spot a lot more doctors. She supposed it was already morning. But she tried to focus on what had awakened her.

Just then she heard and angry shout, followed by more angry words. She straightened on the chair and if she wasn't sitting down, she would most certainly have fallen, because the pain hit her like a ton of bricks. Before her stroll she had forgotten to take the pain medicine and now she was paying the damn price.

She was fighting to breath when the voices from outside grew louder and closer and she was able to make out some of the words being said.

"It's your fault, Helen. You allowed our son to get along with that… that **boy** and look at what happen, he almost died, all because of you!"

"Don't you dare pin this on me Greg, **you** left **us**, remember? I did the best I could."

Amidst the pain, Jamie felt immensely sorry for the kid who had those parents.

"Great, just… You know, I was beginning to wonder when you would use that old argument again," he said.

"Oh really? Well, I was just wondering when you would start blaming this whole thing on me," she replied.

Harsh words kept flying back and forth, adding a headache to Jamie's long list of pains, which in turn made he her mood turn sour very quickly. Gathering her strength, Jamie got up, and after closing her eyes and waiting the vertigo to pass, she walked towards the door.

"Hey," she said trying to get their attention, hoping they wouldn't force her to scream since they were now so close to Sully's room and she didn't want to disturb him. No such luck, it seemed, so she said again, "Hey!" They just kept on fighting. Well, people used to say three times' the charm, so she pressed on. "HEY! Shut up!"

The people arguing, a couple, did as she said, staring dumfounded at her shaky form. Jamie took another breath, wincing. "Could you please stop yelling? This is a hospital for God's sake!"

They had the decency of look a little ashamed. But as soon as she turned her back on them, they continued, just in angry whispers instead of shouts. Jamie sighed and tried to return to the room, noticing then how they were about to follow her in.

She turned sharply, panting. "Where do you think you're going?" But as she studied the couple a little closer, Jamie thought she had the answer already. The man was tall but not overly muscled, his hair just a shade darker than the sleeping boy in the room and the woman bore a beautiful pair of blue eyes, that remind Jamie so much of Sully she berated herself not to notice this sooner.

"We are going to see our son," Mrs. Sullivan said. Still, she didn't move from the entryway. Sully needed to rest, not to wake up to the sound of his parents fighting.

"Not until you stop fighting."

His father took a step towards her, forcing her to look up, just like his son.

"Who do you think you are? Step aside and let us in," Mr. Sullivan said in a very forceful tone.

She didn't move and wondered if this was why Sully was always so closed off when it came to his family. In all of the time she knew him, Jamie could count by her fingers the number of times he had mentioned his family to her.

"No," she answered, just as forcefully. Sully had been through enough, he didn't need to see his parents fight.

"Who do you think you are young lady?" Mrs. Sullivan said outraged.

"She is the woman who saved your son's life," a voice boomed from behind the couple.

Jamie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Dr. Hart coming their way. Just as he got closer to them, Jamie heard something from behind her. Carefully, not wanting to aggravate her pain even more, she turned around and found a pair of blue eyes staring back at her.

* * *

So... What do you think?


	4. Baby Steps

**Disclaimer: **Sadly this author owns nothing you might recognize from the tv show, Harper's Island. I solely own Jamie Mance and any other characters you don't know.

Hello guys! Sorry for the delay with this chapter, it just wasn't cooperating with me and it took me a little more than usual to write it. But a huge thank you to Rebecca, Becca85 and Courtney, your reviews mean more than I can possible explain.

To Rebecca, I'm glad you liked it and I hope you enjoy this one too :) To Becca85, I'm glad you liked it, the parents will be featured more in the future, still I hope you like the tidbit I give in this chapter. To Courtney, I'm glad you enjoyed it and like I said before the parents shall make more appearances in the future :)

Hey, if you guys have any idea or something you'd like to see in this story, drop me a review or something. There is room for suggestions this time, although most of the key moments and the skeleton destiny of the characters is already mapped out. I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

But on with the show...

* * *

**Chapter the Fourth – **_**Baby Steps**_

Jamie was glad Dr. Hart allowed her to stay in the room, as he and several nurses examined Sully and made sure his previous fever had finally broke. She was even gladder for having her pain medicine administered in Sully's room.

Eventually he left and went to update the parents, whom had yet to step in the room. Jamie didn't know what to make of that. Had she been that scary? A self pitying look at the standard hospital gown and a casual glance at a reflexive surface, that was just enough to make out a faint image of her almost deadly pale skin, told her no. Were they bothered by her presence? At the constant glares she was receiving, she thought that would be a yes. Should that be enough to keep them from entering their son's hospital room, after a near death experience? Absolutely not!

She sighed heavily as she slowly caressed Sully's face. He had dozed off again, too tired from the few words he had told her and the doctor earlier. Jamie was so relieved he was okay. After everything that happened, if he had died, she knew it would take a lot for her to recover. Even as it was, there was a voice on the back of her mind, one that sounded too much like Henry for her peace of mind, which whispered maliciously she would never recover, that in some twisted way he had managed to break her. She shuddered and every single hair on the back of her neck stood up.

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer," a raspy voice said and when she focused on the bed again his baby blues were boring into hers.

"Jerk," she said, almost automatically, but there was an unmistakable tenderness in that one word. She felt a smiled reluctantly make its way to her face. "You should be resting."

"I am resting… Now if a certain girl would lie down with me, I would rest that much better," he smirked, his eyes only half open now.

His smiled was bigger, but she couldn't help but notice the small shadow that crossed his face when his eyes turned to the door. Desperately wanting to distract him and keep the tone of the conversation as light as she could for as long as she could, Jamie maneuvered herself and him carefully. Both to be cautious with their injuries, and to try and avoid having him spot the countless bandages that covered her upper body.

There was nothing she could do about the marks on her face and neck, but she wasn't in any hurry to explain those other injuries to him. Having his best friend try to kill him would be enough without adding to that what Henry had done to her.

However, when she felt him hug her, everything else kind of faded to the background and she felt contented with just being in Sully's arms. And Jamie had every intention of sticking around for a very long time. Soon Sully's breath had evened out and she could feel a slight drowsiness catch up with her.

But as she the minutes trickled by, something dragged her from that state between sleep and full awareness. Jamie was starting to get uncomfortable for some reason. There was a feeling creeping up her spine, something she was desperately trying to identify. When she did, Jamie tensed up. Someone was watching her. She raised her eyes for Sully's face, but his eyes were still closed, then she raised her head to the door and she spotted Sully's parents shooting daggers at her.

Jamie tried to ignore them, but when she was uncomfortable, she didn't seem able to stay, sit, or in this case, lie still. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she ended up waking up Sully.

"Maybe I should go…" She whispered sounding uncertain.

It was Sully's time to tense up. "They're being asses, let them."

Jamie's mouth went agape at his words. It was true she was thinking something along the same lines, but still, they were his parents. "Sully-" She started before he quieted her protest with a smoldering kiss.

Breathing a little harder and praying for that sensation in her chest to be just her fluttering heart and not the pain in her ribs returning so soon, she broke the kiss. He was smiling, brightly, but Jamie could see how that smile failed to reach his eyes.

"You're trying to distract me," she said, half teasing half serious.

"Only if it's working," he smirked.

Jamie smiled in return and lowered herself back against him, this time promptly falling asleep.

* * *

The pair dozed off for a couple of hours, being regularly awakened by the nurses checking on both of them. As one of them was leaving the room, Jamie inquired about Shane and Danny.

The young nurse smiled, "Mr. Pierce has already woken up and is better. Da- Mr. Brook's family arrived this morning and is in his room. His wound is healing nicely."

Jamie had noticed her slip and smiled. So he and the young woman were on a first name basis already?_ Good_, she thought, maybe this could lead to something more, it was time Danny got himself a girl, plus the young woman seemed nice. Although Jamie would make sure she was just as innocent as she looked. After all, Henry had seemed like a good guy, all the innocent knight-in-shining-armor type, and look where that ended. She shook her head, trying to dispel the dark thoughts.

As if they were on the same wave length, Sully too was thinking back to the man he had once called his best friend. A chill ran down his spine and he took a deep breath, preparing to talk about something he would much gladly forget.

Jamie felt him tense and was assaulted by a feeling of foreboding.

"What… What happened to Henry?" Sully whispered. He had to know, had Henry been arrested? Or…

She felt a surge of anger mixed with disgust fill her chest, almost to the point where she couldn't breathe. His cool hands on her suddenly heated skin brought her back to reality and her eyes snapped to his.

"He's dead," was the curt response. Jamie tightly shut her eyes and she felt more than heard a sigh of relief murmur on his chest.

Sully wanted to ask her more, he wanted to know everything. Now that his strength was coming back, the curiosity was burning along with the anger and hurt. But he could see how upset she was, and the last thing Sully wanted now was to screw up. He had done enough of that to her to last him for a life time, so he let it go.

He just resigned to staying exactly where he was, holding her. Glad that both of them were okay and the nightmare was finally over. He sighed heavily. How fucked up things were if Sully found himself glad Henry was dead?

He just couldn't understand why. Why Henry did what he did? Had it been just because he was the son of murderer? That wasn't good enough of an answer for him, there had to be more, right? Next Sully wondered just how did his best friend, someone he was suppose to know like the back of his hand, had turned into a murderer and he had missed it. Some friend he was…

And if his situation wasn't bad enough, his parents were here. He groaned as another doctor stepped into his room.

"Good afternoon Mr. Sullivan, Dr. Mance," he said, nodding his head in their direction, a pleasant smile on his face. "I believe it's time for Dr. Mance to return to her room."

Sully looked downright pissed all of a sudden and shook his head. "If this is because of my parents... You can just ignore them doc," he said, loud enough and very clear, intending for his parents to hear that. He received a grunt from his father and a sharp intake of breath from his mom. It only served them right for being so goddamn overbearing.

"No, Mr. Sullivan, it's not because of your family, actually is because of Dr. Mance's. According to the nurses her brother has been waiting for quite some time, but he didn't want to interrupt you two..." Dr. Hart trailed off.

Jamie smiled at his brother consideration and started to untangle herself from Sully, kissing his lips softly as a goodbye and promising to return as soon as possible.

He smiled faintly, right before asking the departing doctor to tell his parents he was too tired and was going to try and get some sleep. As he watched Jamie from the bed, heavily relying on the redheaded doctor, he felt like a jerk for upsetting her earlier and even more for forgetting to ask how she was. He guessed, and fervently hoped she thought so too, that he had been so glad that she was alive and breathing that the rest kind of faded.

Sully tried to close his eyes and sleep, but he kept thinking back to what had happened on the island. The last crystal clear memory he had was an intense pain, a fire delivered to his gut by a cold blade, the rest was foggy and in pieces. There was pain, fear, murmured words and pleadings, then strong hands picking him up from a place he didn't recognize, then… He opened his eyes with a gasp when he remembered one last thing.

_Sully was tired, in an immense amount of pain and confused as hell, but when he saw her, bruised and bloodied but alive, he fought to run to her. After a little staggering he had her in his arms and the words tumbled out of his mouth much like the first time he had uttered them, "I love you Jamie."_

_She smiled a brilliant smile and replied, "I love you too, Sully."_

He was grinning like a fool. Amidst all the mayhem and horror that that week turned into, he managed to fix one of his biggest mistakes and now he had Jamie. As the sleep finally overtook him he thought that for the time being, that was all he needed and wanted.

* * *

Her ribs were aching by the time she finally got to her room. Jimmy was pacing, with Abby trying to convince him to sit down, especially because of his knee. Jamie frowned as she noticed how he seemed to be limping. Suddenly worried, she fully stepped in the room and both head's shot up to look at the door and so, straight at her.

In two large steps her brother engulfed her in a big hug. She feared for her broken ribs but she noticed how he avoided crushing her to his chest, which caused some alarm bells to ring in her head. But she pushed those aside and went to embrace a nervous looking Abby. The brunette returned the hug, once again mindful of her ribs. And a bad feeling settled on her stomach. Jamie had a feeling her prayers of her brother's ignorance on her injuries hadn't been answered.

Jamie went to lay down, tired as hell. Her brother helped her and she smiled, but the tense silence still remained. Abby, sensing they needed to talk, excused herself. Giving Jimmy a chaste kiss on the lips, that made the young man smile.

Now it was just the two of them. The tension intensified so much one could almost taste it. They were staring each other in the eye so intently they missed the nurse that popped in the room, but seeing the look, quickly closed the door.

Finally Jimmy dropped down to the chair with a heavy sigh. All yesterday's afternoon he waited for his sister to wake up. According to Dr. O'Keefe she had woken up briefly and all but demanded to see him or Sully. He was a little worried when the doc added that she had been too tired after seeing the blonde boy to go look for him. So he stayed with her, and waited, and waited…

Jimmy waited until his eyes were too heavy to remain open, until Abby pretty much dragged him away from the bed, practically walking dead on his feet. The next morning he woke up in pain, the effect of the morphine long gone and if his mood wasn't sour already, Dr. Bishop informed him that his knee would need a surgery after all.

But now that he was here, he kind of didn't know how to say or even what he wanted to say to her. The first thing on his mind was her injuries. Jimmy wanted to know everything that bastard had done to her, and why Jamie hadn't tell him the truth while there was still something the fisherman could do to get even. He was so full of anger, so damn pissed off that sometimes he scared himself. So, since he didn't want to scare her, he waited for her to speak first.

The only problem was Jamie's nature. She wasn't secretive per se, but she was very private. If she could avoid speaking about something bothering her, she would. If someone pushed her, it usually worked the other way around and she would only clamp her mouth shut harder. It didn't help that Jamie had a very strong sense on independence, meaning she would rather work things out for herself before involving someone. Of course in the back of her mind, she knew she would need some help down the road. But here and now, with her brother, she simply didn't see the point in burdening him with her problems. He had his plate full, with Abby and himself, he didn't need to be worrying with her too.

Of course, in turn, this went against Jimmy's nature. He was incapable of not worrying. She was his baby sister for goodness sake! Thinking she had been murdered, that he had failed made him feel empty and almost dead inside. The thought that she had been hurt, **hurt** **him**. He couldn't leave it like this, not this time.

"Jamie," he started, using the older brother tone, the you're-gonna-tell-me-everything-right-now-missy tone. She was expecting it and her answer was ready.

"No."

He looked confused for a second before saying, "No, what?"

"I'm not gonna… I mean we're not gonna talk about what happened."

"The hell we aren't Jamie! 27 cuts, two broken ribs and more than I cared to remember, he tor-" She didn't let him finish the sentence, let alone the word.

"STOP! I don't need a trip down memory lane so soon, I still remember everything with vivid clarity thank you very much," she shot sharply, feeling the anger heat her from head to toe, and not in a good way. But seeing a hurt look flash in his grey eyes, Jamie added, more softly this time, "Please, Jimmy. Don't make me…"

Jimmy's glare softened and he decided to drop the subject… for the time being.

He moved in the uncomfortable chair, accidently jerking his knee, sending a shot of pain up his leg and making him hiss.

"What?" Jamie asked, concerned when she saw him grab his knee.

"Nothing," he said shaking his head.

She snorted. "Yeah, right. What's wrong with your knee?" She demanded.

"Just a bad knee sprain," the young fisherman said, reciting the words his doctor had said.

She narrowed his eyes and he almost smiled, seeing the fire in her eyes. "How bad?"

"Surgery bad, sis," he said, a mixture of sadness and anger on his voice. Jamie paled considerably and Jimmy grabbed her suddenly ice cold hand. "Hey, hey, don't worry, everything will be alright," he said in the most soothing voice he had.

Jamie was, infuriatingly, close to tears, but she managed a watery smile. "You're having the surgery and I'm the one crying, damn it!"

They hug, again, and spent the next hours talking about the surgery, this time in the right roles, with Jamie explaining the steps of the surgery and what could he expect and Jimmy being reassured, somewhat.

Jimmy silently thanked the good lord his sister decided to be a doctor and was demystifying the whole thing for him. Because, and this wasn't something he would ever admit to anyone (he was positive Shane would never let him live that one down), the idea of having to undergo surgery scared him. This one in particular, although it wasn't life threatening, could reduce his mobility, and for a guy like Jimmy, there would be nothing worse than become a cripple.

A nurse, wanting to change Jamie's bandages, interrupted their conversation. Jimmy left for the while it took to change them and then resumed his visit. The tone of the second part of their conversation was a lot lighter, with a little work on both parts.

Jimmy finally left when Jamie's eyes kept falling close, kissing her forehead. He would try to sleep, but most likely he would stay awake and try to avoid the horror images that kept invading his brain, hoping Abby's presence could keep them at bay for a few hours.

* * *

After those first few days, with FBI interviews and the difficult, but necessary, hear-to-hearts came the ones fending off parents and sneaking past nurses and doctors. Eventually, of course, things at Angel of Mercy Hospital settled.

The days started blending together and even those like Chloe and Abby, who weren't bed ridden, started to lose track of the time. Since the hospital walls were the only safe grounds they had, what with the reporters still hounding the hospital grounds. And then, before any of them noticed, a full week had passed, and the funerals were just around the corner.

That was part of the reason that kept Shea and Madison from visiting the hospital. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation finally released the bodies to the respective families, she offered to pay for every single funeral, she felt like it was her obligation, and she knew that would be something Trish would want. Her kindness was greatly appreciated, especially by Jimmy and Shane, who had lost a great deal of friends and had no idea how they would pay for the burials. And so, even though not every family accepted her offer, she was very busy.

Shea had been asked, before the truth had come to light, to make the necessary decisions about Henry Dunn's funeral, seeing as he didn't have a next of kin. It made Shea sick to think she had considered to arrange for the younger man, who in her mind had died to protect Trish, to be buried with her little sister. Now all she wanted was for him to burn in hell and didn't care one bit what happened to his body, as long as she never had to see it again.

The decision passed then to Abby. When the FBI informed her of such, it took all of her strength, and Jimmy's presence, for her not to break down then and there (Jimmy was beginning to get a little tired of the feds and their special aptitude to make Abby cry). She managed to tell, in between gasping breaths, she really shouldn't be given the decision. The guilt was coursing through her body like fire through gasoline, first for killing her best friend, then at feeling guilt in the first place. Abby really didn't want to be the one responsible, anything but that.

A few days later both women were informed the state would be left in charge of Henry's and even Wakefield's funerals. Not that either of them were interested, or any of the other survivors for that matter, they had way too many things on their plates.

There were too many dark thoughts roaming through their minds, a pain so great and barely reined in, acute survivor's guilt and a panoply of nightmares that would take a **very** long time to go away, if ever did, completely at least.

But not everything was dark and gloomy in the survivor's lives; there were a few bright spots.

Like the strengthening relationship of Abby and Jimmy. The fact that Abby was still there, that she had resisted her instinct to run away, was a sign. She still had trouble opening up to Jimmy, but those seven years apart and that week together taught her a couple of things. She was done pushing Jimmy away. Not when having him close seemed to be the only thing keeping her from falling apart. It could be for selfish purposes, but Jimmy wasn't about to start complaining.

Or the friendship that seemed to be blooming between Shane and Danny. They weren't about to call themselves best buddies. To tell the truth, it was barely a friendship at all, more like a convenient partnership, since being confined to bed rest didn't leave much room to fun, conversation had been their only distraction. Shane discovered the younger man wasn't as self absorbed and moronic as the other summer kids and Danny discovered the burly fisherman was more than a permanently pissed off bunch of muscles. And it totally helped the fact that Danny's mom had took upon herself to care for Shane like she did for her son. So they respected each other now and on the off times… Well, then they pretty much annoyed the hell out of one another.

There was also the rekindled relationship of Sully and Jamie. The couple tended to avoid the deep and heavier topics, like what had happened on the island or their previous messy relationship. Even though what happened in that week had brought their buried feelings to the surface, they had a lot of things to work through. For example, her tendency to bottle everything up and his instinct to run went things got tough or what had broken them apart for real all that time ago. After all, if they did the same things they did in the past, they would end up in the same place, and they had an urgency to make things different, to make things work, this time.

But the brightest spot of all was reserved for Cal and Chloe.

Cal was the first of the survivors to be released from the hospital, a little over a week after he had been admitted. Even if Sully's work on his shoulder had been less than stellar, there hadn't been an infection, like in Sully's case, or any other complications, like in the Shane's and Danny's cases, and so he was ready to go home a few days before the first funeral, which would be Beth's.

Just like they had agreed, on the day Sully, Jamie, Abby and Jimmy were rescued, the first place they went, after leaving the hospital, was the city hall. Cal had asked Chloe more than once if she was certain that this was what she wanted. First because he was afraid she might later regret this decision, since it had been in the heat of the moment, and second because he had heard enough of his Chloe's ideas for her wedding.

And he wanted her to have the wedding of her dreams, he wanted to replace the nightmarish thoughts she must now associate with marriage with new ones, good ones. But Chloe had been adamant: she wanted to marry him as fast as she could. She wanted to be Cal's in every possible way.

As per Chloe's request, the room where they were about to be married was empty of anyone who wasn't strictly needed. A judge, two witnesses, a bride and a groom and that was it.

Contrary to what she thought that was gonna happen, Chloe was a little nervous. There weren't any doubts tormenting her spirit, there was not a thing in this world she was more certain than this, it was rather sadness, a deep and acute sadness. She missed her friends…

Cal noticed this, and even though the judge was giving the final touches to their papers, he still turned to her, ready to call the whole thing off if she so desired. "Are you sure you want to do this now, love? We can wait. We have time." The last thing he wanted was for her to later regret this rather simple wedding.

Time was something Chloe would never take for granted again, especially in anything that related to Cal or their happiness. She turned to him, taking in his hand in hers and saying in a clear and strong voice, "There's nothing I want more right now, Cal, than to become your wife. I love you." And then she kissed him, hoping to convey everything she couldn't seem quite able to put into words.

He responded with equal fervor, and it was only when the judge cleared his throat, loudly, that the pair broke the kiss, both breaths ragged and cheeks warm.

"I love you too, my Chloe. You're my life."

Smiling she said, "And you're mine."

As the judge declared them husband and wife, a single tear left Chloe's eyes, and for one glorious moment the darkness and pain vanished from her mind, leaving only the love and the pure unaltered joy at being Mrs. Cal Vandeusen.

* * *

So? What do you think?

Lilacc :)


	5. Complications

**Disclaimer:** Sadly I own nothing you might recognize from the tv show_ Harper's Island_. My possessions are Jamie Mance, Sully's parents, and every other character I may have to include.

Hello guys! Thanks for the reviews becca85, Rebecca and Courtney, they inspire me to write and make this story that much more fun to write, knowing someone out there is reading it besides myself :D

To becca85, thanks for bringing the typo of the hospital's name to my attention :D Maybe it was my subconscious, what with all the strong feelings lying beneath the surface. I'm glad you liked it :) To Courtney, thanks for the support, their moments give me fuzzy feelings too :) To Rebecca, don't worry! I will be finishing the story :) I love it too much not too, plus I have several ideas, so I'm not gonna let them go to waste, trust me. Thanks for the compliment about Cal and Chloe's wedding scene, it makes me all fuzzy inside :D A few chapters from here, I might have a question for you, so keep being my faithful reviewer, please :)

This chapter is small than I was expecting, I was gonna start writing about the funerals, but the small intro I had planned grown too much and then it just didn't mesh well with what I had planned. I do hope you like it anyways.

* * *

**Chapter the Fifth – Complications**

Slowly, in the week that followed the second rescue, the rest of the survivors were released. Abby and Jamie were the firsts after Cal, although thanks to Jimmy's surgery, neither woman spent more than enough time outside of the hospital than the necessary to book a few rooms in a low key hotel close by.

Danny's turn came up next, and the African-American decided to spend a few weeks with his parents, mostly because they were still pretty shaken from the experience their only son had gone through. But also because his mom's care was just what the young man needed right now, to feel safe and loved, to try and erase all the horror and the pain.

Jimmy was supposed to be the next one being released, but there had been a complication with his surgery. The combination of a previous injury with being blown off a boat and falling down a cliff made for a surgery far more sensitive and invasive than previous thought. According to the doctors the young fisherman would need some serious physiotherapy and probably a second surgery.

A crushed Jamie had crawled in bed with Sully that night, waking and scaring the boy half to death.

"_What," Sully said, groggily, his last dose of pain killers, which had knocked him out, had been just a few hours previous. When he noticed who exactly was shaking like a leaf, already half on top of the bed, and in his arms he hugged her tightly. "Jamie? What happened?" The blonde said a bit frantic. When he heard a sob erupt form her chest, he started to really panic, but fought to remain calm and then tried a different approach. "Jay what's going on?" There was still no response. "Jay, c'mon, you're scaring me!"_

"_Jimmy…"  
_

_Sully felt his heart constrict in his chest. "What happened?" _Please don't say his dead, please_, he thought. It was just a knee surgery. He was fine, for Jamie's sake, he had to be. Those hours Jamie thought her brother had been dead, were engraved in his mind and he never wanted to see her like that again._

"_C-complications," she whispered._

"_But he's, alive, right?" he said, her answer not being as satisfying as he was hoping it to be. "God yes, I…I'm…I'm just a little emotional right now. I'll explain everything later, just… hold me, please," she finished in a weak voice._

He had complied with her request immediately, having discovered thathis flirtations the day he had woken up to be true: he did rest better when she was lying by his side. A little tidbit that scared and pleased him in equal parts and that he had committed to memory for a later analysis. He was way too weak to be making discoveries like this one while still in the hospital.

But when Sully woke the next morning, Jamie was already gone, and he felt the anger rise up in his chest. Because he knew she wasn't gone because she wanted too, or because it was against hospital policy, no, the reason why Jamie left were his parents. He loved them, sure, but not in concentrated doses. And especially not when, since the first time they met her, when she had legitimately chastised them, they had been nothing but unpleasant to her. God, was it so hard to understand that she had saved his life? That she was important to him?

He snorted, of course it wasn't. Not for them, they were so self-absorbed it was a miracle they even remember why they were at the hospital in the first place. If he was anything like them, no wonder his best friend had snapped and tried to kill him!

Sully tried to banish those thoughts somewhere to the depths of his mind, but the sound of aggravated voices coming down the hall, at that particular moment, made him groan. They were at it again. It was just like when he had been a kid. That was a sense of déjà vu he could damn well live without.

But there was really nothing he could do. Jamie wasn't at the hospital, having told him earlier that day she was going to help Shane get settle in his hotel room; Danny was home and Abby was with Jimmy, who couldn't walk just yet. All in all, today was going to be a very bad day, he just could tell.

"Seriously Helen, we should get him over to New York Presbyterian, I don't really trust his doctors," his father said, the sneer very clear on his voice.

"Greg, for the last time, Christopher is fine here and he's not going to be transferred to another hospital just because you don't like this one," she said, having just opened the door.

"And I'm right here, so you can just cut it out," Sully said in a hard tone.

He caught both his parents by surprise. His mom's eyes softened and she walked to the chair, sitting down. "I'm sorry, honey, did we wake you?"

"No, but I want to, so if you want to keep arguing pointlessly, by all means, go on… Just do it outside," he snapped a little.

"It's no pointless, son, it's about your health," his father said. As if, the only health problems his dad had ever been concerned, had been the ones that happened on his birthday and holidays, so why start now?

"My health is just fine. Dr. Hart said I could be discharged tomorrow, so no point in trying to pull any type of strings to transfer me somewhere else. Plus, I wouldn't go anyway. The funerals are coming. Beth's in two days," he said the last part more softly than the rest. Although he and Beth had never been too close, he had known her for quite some time.

"Oh, honey, maybe you shouldn't go," his mom said.

"What?" He said, outraged. "They were my friends, mom! And I need to be there for Jamie too," he added, again more softly than before.

"Again with that girl?" Greg Sullivan said exasperated.

Sully stiffened. "Yeah, dad. By the way, she has a name, it's Jamie and I love her. Have a problem with that?" He challenged.

His dad snorted. "And what do you know about love?"

That could've been a valid question, if it hadn't been uttered by his dad in that condescending tone. He was so pissed he was having trouble breathing, but when he spoke, his voice sounded eerily calm. "Yeah, you're right dad. What could I know about love, especially with the example you and mom gave me?"

His mom gasped, and he saw his father go as white as a sheet. He knew he had hurt them, but at the moment he didn't really care, he was being flooded with memories of his childhood.

"All you ever did was fight. Every day in our house it felt like a damn war zone! Most of the kids in my class would sob because their parents were getting a divorce, do you know what I did, dad? Do you want to know what I did when you and mom told me you were getting divorced?" He asked, laughing a little hysterically. "I threw a damn party. I got totally wasted because I was so fucking relieved!"

He was breathing hard, but he felt his chest a little lighter. Then he added more to himself than to his shocked parents, "And that's what I don't get. He had the most amazing parents, the dream of so many kids, like me for example. And he still turned out to be a murderous, two faced, psycho!"

"Oh, Christopher, I'm sorry. We had no idea…" And he didn't know if she was referring to his outburst about his childhood or Henry. "We… We promise we won't fight anymore."

He snorted, he had heard that so many times before he actually lost count. He didn't believe them, to do so was to set himself up to more hurt, and he had had enough to last him two lifetimes. So he nodded stiffly and closed his eyes, wishing to have Jamie's warm body by his side.

* * *

One floor up, Abby was dozing off. She wouldn't let herself sleep properly, she was too afraid of the nightmares. She knew from experience how bad they could get. If to this day, she sometimes saw her mother's dead body hanging from that tree, she didn't even want to imagine how brutal and for how long she would find memories of that horrific week slip into her dreams.

The chair she was in was pretty uncomfortable, but that suited Abby's attempts to remain awake. Since Jimmy had been so heavily sedated during and after the surgery, he would never resist awake for too long and she didn't want to miss one of those moments.

She had been so worried. Abby had been certain she had cried all the tears she had, but when the doctor explained the complications, the petite brunette found her eyes watering. Why? Hadn't they've been through enough already? When was their life start to get better?

Then and there that guilt that never completely left Abby, washed over her. As Jamie grabbed on to her, Abby couldn't help but feel unworthy. All she could think was that Jamie should be yelling at her, that the younger woman should be tearing Abby a new one, instead of holding on to her for dear life.

"Hi", said Jimmy, breaking her from her reverie. And as she smiled at him, the fisherman wished he could wake up to her beautiful smile very single day, for the rest of his life.

"Hi, there. How are you feeling?" She asked nervous, still tormented by her previous thoughts.

"Thirsty," he rasped.

She passed him the plastic cup and he took one huge swig. It felt like heaven on his throat and he smiled. He was thankful the tiredness was giving him a break. He was starting to be tired of so much sleep.

"Where's Jamie?" Jimmy asked noticing the absence of his little sister. He vaguely remembered hearing her say she wouldn't leave his side. And then bits and pieces, of the other times he woke up, her and Abby being the permanent fixtures in those snippets.

"Shane was released a couple of hours ago. She went to help him get settled in the the hotel where we made the reservations earlier."

Jimmy nodded, blinking, as his eyelids started to drop. He cursed under his breath and felt Abby caressing his face. "You need to sleep," she gave him a peck on the lips that left him yearning for more; "I'll be here when you wake up."

"And when will you sleep?" Jimmy asked after a big yawn, noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

When she didn't answer he changed his position in bed to create space enough for the petite woman. She smiled and accepted his silent invitation, hoping his strong and comforting presence could keep the nightmares at bay, even if just for the night.

* * *

Madison was pouting. She had asked her mother, again, to go visit her friends at the hospital and again Shea's answer had been no.

"I'm too busy right now sweetie. Maybe tomorrow."

Did her mom really thought she would she would fall for that? She could be only 9, but Madison was a very bright 9 years-old. A frown appeared on her pretty face. That was actually not true. She had been fooled once, and her dad, grandpa and Katherine had died because of that.

She shook her head to dispel those thoughts; her mommy said it wasn't her fault, so it probably wasn't. She decided to return to the drawing her mom told her to do while Shea was occupied with the final arrangements for the funerals.

Truth be told, Madison would much rather be in her room playing one of the video games Henry had given her last Christmas, but her mommy had threw them all away. Along every other thing her aunt's fiancé had gifted them with. "It brings too many memories," her mom had replied when she asked the reasoning. The little girl obviously didn't understand but had refrained from asking anything else. Although she couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that Henry had been Wakefield's true accomplice.

* * *

So, what do you think? Drop me a line, will ya ;)


End file.
